People who participate in the growing Host...

People who participate in the growing Host Homes program run by UCLA Medical Center’s pastoral care department all have big hearts, but their houses can be of any size.

The program offers lodging for out-of-town patients undergoing treatment at UCLA for serious medical problems. The Rev. Janet Humphreys, director of pastoral care, said volunteers hosted 67 families last year, providing 538 nights of lodging.

The hospitality program began in 1987 on the initiative of Father Giles Asbury, program chairman of the University Religious Conference and Episcopal chaplain at UCLA. He helped obtain a grant from the Cathedral Foundation of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and recruited support from churches of various denominations in the West Los Angeles area.

Delia Peterson, a UCLA undergraduate who has coordinated the program since 1988, when there were only three host homes, said UCLA draws many patients from outside Southern California because of its organ-transplant programs and other high-tech specialties. Now there are 20 host families, who were honored March 5 at a dinner at the UCLA faculty center.

“It’s easy to run out of money if you have to stay in a hotel on the Westside,” said Peterson, adding that finances are not the only reason hospital visitors request home lodgings. “Some people are afraid of Los Angeles.”

Peterson screens prospective guests and hosts and arranges compatible matches. A house or apartment does not have to be large or elegant to qualify, she said. “Some people just provide a fold-out bed in the living room. Others have one or two spare bedrooms and a bath. One couple even has a crib.”

There are guidelines. “Hosts offer a place to sleep and bathe,” she said, “and are not required to provide transportation, child care, entertainment or kitchen facilities. They open their home for a few days at a time, on a trial basis.

“Hosts are never pressured to take anybody,” she said. “Our guests are all screened by social workers. Even though they’re under a lot of stress, they cope wonderfully and are not a heavy burden on the host family.”

Ellen Borenstein, who has received about 10 families in her Santa Monica home over the past four years, said: “I grew up in the South, where I was taught that it feels good to do things for people--and seeing people face life-and-death medical crises has taught me to appreciate what I have. I’m hoping this will help teach my children that the latest Nintendo game is not the most important thing.”

Another host, Lynn Egerman of Beverly Hills, said: “I like doing , rather than just giving monetarily or serving on big committees. This is a way of reaching out.”

She said that guests are not emotionally demanding. “During the time with you, they need help with normalcy, not with grief. They are more than respectful of hosts’ privacy and tend to keep very much to themselves. You’re offering them a place to relax,” she said.

“The program has been a gift to me,” she said. “I don’t feel I’m giving as much as getting.”

Art James was divorced when he joined the program four years ago, living in a condo with an extra bedroom. “The idea just struck me as something that would be very easy, and welcome for me to do,” he said.

James was impressed by the devotion men showed their hospitalized wives. “Every one of them spent from early morning till late at night with their wives. It was a great thing to see,” said James, who remarried in November.

Despite the dramatic growth in the number of host families during her tenure, Peterson said she would like to increase her inventory. “I love this job,” she said, “because I get to show people that a big city like this has a lot of people that care, that will open the doors of their homes to strangers--strangers that are extremely gracious, good people.”

For further information on the Host Homes program, call UCLA Medical Center Pastoral Care at (310) 825-7484.

HONORED

Rabbi Allen I. Freehling, senior rabbi at University Synagogue in Los Angeles and a community activist, received an honorary doctor of divinity degree recently at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati.

Jesuit Father Thomas Patrick O’Malley, former president of John Carroll University in Cleveland, was inaugurated this month as Loyola Marymount University’s 13th president.

PERFORMANCES

“The Emperor of Atlantis,” a chamber opera written in Teresienstadt, a Nazi concentration camp in Czechoslovakia, will have its Los Angeles premiere Sunday, March 29, at University Synagogue. The music was written by Viktor Ullman, with libretto by Peter Kien. Judith Berman directs. Curtain is at 7:30 p.m. at University Synagogue, 11960 Sunset Blvd., Brentwood. Tickets are $25, $50 and $100. For information, phone (310) 473-3761.

The second annual evening of readings from Langston Hughes’ poetry and plays will take place tonight at 8 p.m. at the Church in Ocean Park. Admission is a $10 suggested donation; sign language interpretation and child care are provided. The church is located at 235 Hill St., Santa Monica. For information and child-care reservations, phone (310) 399-1631.

Lenten choral music will be performed at the Parish of St. Mary in Palms at 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 29. Charpentier’s “Le Reniement de St. Pierre,” as well as works by Hassler, Schubert, Pachelbel, Palestrina and Rorem, will be included. The church is at 3647 Watseka Ave., West Los Angeles. Phone (310) 558-3834 for ticket information.

WORSHIP

“Scriptures for Skeptics” is presented on the third Sunday of each month at 9 a.m. at the Unitarian Church of Orange County. (Regular worship services begin at 10:30 a.m.) Bring a breakfast item to share. 1120 W. Santa Ana St., Anaheim (714) 758-1050.

A charismatic Mass will be celebrated Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Mary Star of the Sea Church. Praise and worship begin at 7 p.m., with music provided by Spirit Song. 877 W. Seventh St., San Pedro. (310) 833-3541.

Christian Women’s Aglow of Southern California invites all women to a statewide prayer retreat in Sacramento March 27-29. Cindy Jacobs will teach “prayer warfare,” including prayer for state leaders on the Capitol steps. For information, phone (714) 644-4706.

SPEAKER

Calvary Chapel in conjunction with Fully Armored Bible Study presents “Disarming the New Age” hosted by Bobby Lownsdale and Neil Saavedra tonight at 7 p.m., at 8726 Haskell Ave., North Hills. (818) 891-9972.